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Sorrell: Horses are for riding, not eating

When I was younger, I had the same dream as most girls.

I wanted a pony.

Several years later, as a sophomore in high school, my dream came true.

I was a member of a local riding facility in my home town. I took horse riding lessons once a week, worked at the farm on weekends and participated in horse shows all summer. In order to advance in my riding career so I could become a member of an equestrian team at a university, I needed a horse.

I fell in love with the first horse I saw. He was a bay who was 16 hands high. His name was Whiskey.

My mom didn’t approve of his name at first since I was a young girl. But we later realized his personality matched.

He was the troublemaker of the barn. He would get out of pasture fences, chase the barn cats down the aisles and steal bales of hay. But he had the funniest, yet most loving personality out of any horse I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

Then high school graduation came. It was time to sell Whiskey to cover college tuition. It was the saddest day of my life, saying good-bye to the companion I raised, trained and competed alongside. But at least I know he went to a loving family with a girl who was just as excited as I was to get her first horse.

However, I can’t sleep at night imagining the rest of Whiskey’s life.

What if the economy hits the family hard and they can no longer care for him? What will happen?

Unfortunately, there is a new option for families that can no longer care for horses — the slaughterhouse.

The United States Congress recently lifted a five-year ban on funding for the slaughter of horse meat in the U.S. This means that in as quickly as 30 to 90 days, slaughterhouses could be opened in states like Wyoming, North Dakota, Nebraska or Missouri to provide meat in Europe and Asia.

These slaughterhouses are expected to kill up to 200,000 horses per year for human consumption.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture would have to find money in its existing budget to help fund the slaughterhouses, but it’s expected to see even more cuts this year due to the trimming of federal spending by Congress. So where will the money come from? The USDA expects this could cost taxpayers an additional $3 to $5 million a year.

I admit that there are benefits to horse slaughter in the U.S. It could provide more jobs for those willing to work in slaughterhouses. It could end animal cruelty toward horses that have been abused or neglected. PETA believes slaughtering horses would actually end the animals’ suffering, and therefore the group is pro-slaughter.

According to an article on Yahoo, investigations for horse neglect and abuse increased in Colorado by more than 60 percent from 2005 to 2009. No one likes to see animals suffer.

But in my opinion, the benefits aren’t worth it.

There are more humane ways to end animal suffering. Euthanasia is widely used in the country to end the lives of animals that are suffering from diseases, old age, abuse or neglect. It certainly seems more humane to quietly, painlessly put an animal down rather than exposing it to the horrific, painful scenes of a slaughterhouse just because it had careless owners.

In addition, even though horses are no longer used for travel or farming, they still serve a purpose beyond human consumption. Many children, and even adults, suffer from depression or terminal diseases. Therapeutic riding helps bring happiness to their lives and instills confidence in them that other sports or animals can’t provide. I have witnessed this firsthand.

Taking away America’s most beloved animal may have its benefits, but its negative ramifications would dampen our country’s spirit.

Now, more than ever, Americans need something to take their minds off the economy and high unemployment rates. I believe the answer to that is keeping horses around forever, not slaughtering them.

After all, we never know what Congress could allow next. Our cats and dogs may be next on our menus.

Kelsey Sorrell is a senior at Georgia Southern University and an editorial intern at the Savannah Morning News. t.kelsey.sorrell@savannahnow.com.